Spooner Middle, Spooner WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Spooner Middle

Spooner Middle serves students from fifth through eighth grade in the Spooner Area School District, a small Northwoods public school system. The school occupies a remodeled facility in the city of Spooner, a compact community at the highway crossroads of U.S. 53 and 63. The walking and biking trail that connects the middle school with the elementary and high schools, developed jointly by the city, community, and school system, gives the campus area a connected feel rather than a set of isolated buildings. Spooner itself is a stable small city that saw a modest population decline in recent decades, and its economy rests on healthcare, education, tourism, and small business rather than expansion.

Academically, Spooner Middle posts a proficiency index that places it above the midpoint among the four school districts in Washburn County. That is a solid position for a school its size. The pattern across subjects and grade levels, however, is uneven. In math, fifth graders show a lower proficiency rate than the rest of the school, while sixth, seventh, and eighth graders each reach rates that are fairly consistent with each other and higher than the fifth-grade mark. In English language arts, the spread is wider: sixth grade sits lower than the other three grades, and eighth grade reaches the strongest ELA result in the building. Eighth graders also post a notably strong rate in social studies and a solid one in science. The school participates in the Wisconsin Forward exam, and participation rates are very high across all tested grades, which means the results reflect nearly the full student body.

A parent looking at these numbers will notice that the fifth-grade math result is the weakest single point in the school’s profile. Whether that reflects a cohort effect, a transition from elementary, or something else is not clear from the data alone. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports math skills entering middle school. The upward trend from fifth to eighth grade in math suggests improvement as students move through the grade levels.

The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of students who identify as Hispanic, two or more races, Native American, or Black. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that signals a moderate level of economic diversity.

The school does not offer high school grades, so there is no graduation rate or college-readiness data to report. No information surfaced about course access, advanced offerings, or staffing ratios. The district completed substantial capital investment in its facilities, including the remodeling of this middle school, which means families benefit from upgraded infrastructure.

Housing in the Spooner area is generally more affordable than the state median, with home values below Wisconsin’s average. The national mortgage rate context and local price-to-income ratio suggest a relatively attainable market for a family buying in the area.

For a family considering Spooner Middle, the picture is one of a small, stable school in a small city with outdoor recreation at its doorstep. Academic performance is generally in the middle to upper range when compared to other Washburn County districts, though with some variation by grade and subject. A parent who values a connected, walkable school campus and a quiet community with tourism and seasonal street life may find Spooner a good fit. A parent whose priority is a uniformly high proficiency rate across all grades may want to investigate the fifth-grade math and sixth-grade English results further.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 55%

▲ 4 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 12 pts above state median

Science

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 6 pts above state median

This schoolSpooner Area School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income71%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income62%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income32%Higher-income69%37 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income76%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income43%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income62%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income64%35 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income70%33 pp gap